eudaimonistic model of health

He calls his account the emotional state theory of happiness and is careful to describe it so as to avoid attempts to reduce it to one or another of the standard accounts of well-being, and at the same time to avoid a list of objections similar to the ones those accounts of affective well-being face. In practice, of course, the presence and importance of such connections are well recognized. Finally, Rogers' model considers the community as a field in itself. The discussion throughout this section is indebted to. This conception of health, while similar to a much-criticized definition offered by the World Health Organization, is distinct from it, and avoids the usual objections to the WHO definition. eudaimonistic model subsumes all previous models and defines health as general well-being and self-realization maslows hierarchy of needs this model redirects thinking away from mechanistic view of man toward a more holistic view (both are necessary for understanding the nature of life) eudaimonistic model holistic view Consider that problematic part first. Once the postponed questions are eventually addressed, we find ourselves in the middle of contentious debates about how much we can reasonably be expected to do around the margins for those who are disadvantaged by gender roles, caring for children, disabilities, or caring for the elderly and disabled. He says, though perhaps with a hint of irritation, We should grant that [emotional state] happiness is not as important as some people think it is, and that it ranks firmly beneath virtue in a good life: to sacrifice the demands of good character in the name of personal happinessor, I would add, personal welfarecan never be justified. With the changing d. With this much in the background, it should be clear why a eudaimonistic account of health will be plausible if it can answer some further questions about how it might appropriately be limited to matters of basic justice. So it is important to keep it connected to a normative tradition in ethics, such as eudaimonism, limited by a defensible concept of basic justice. Health consists of a number of different dimensions. These core virtues are defined in terms of various kinds of strengthfor example, wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, and so forth (Peterson and Seligman, 2004, 2930). (2) So if it turns out that some elements of good health (call them physical and psychological strengths) are necessary for removing or sustaining the absence of illness, those factors of good health will also be part of the subject matter of basic justice. For one thing, there is currently some conflict in positive psychology about whether to pursue the study of subjectively estimated eudaimonistic well-being (defined and assessed in terms of capabilities and functioning that may or may not be directly correlated to positive affect) in addition to the study of subjectively estimated positive affective states indicative of happiness. Similar downward spirals begin with mental ill health. . The definition is given in the first of the nine principles about health that are said to be basic to the happiness, harmonious relations and security of all peoples (World Health Organization, 2011). This is useful support for the conception of health that I am advancing here with respect to basic justice. But it seems evident that anyone habilitated to a substantial level of physical and psychological positive health will thereby have the capacity (in some circumstances) for a favorable balance of pleasant over unpleasant experience, the fulfillment of a satisfactory level of fully informed desires, a fully informed, autonomous and positive form of life-satisfaction, some basic level of the realization of ones potential, and threshold levels of at least some items on any plausible list of elements of a good life. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide, This PDF is available to Subscribers Only. Increase the span of healthy life 2. Those philosophers were well aware of the distinction between what we can justifiably require and what we can justifiably admire. Traits versus states. There is a certain inertia to central affective states that peripheral affects seem to lack: they dont vanish without trace the instant the triggering event is over. None of this is incompatible in the least with the aims of this book. Defines health as the ability to perform a social role as determined by society. Thus, in healthy adults, as health is understood in both contemporary psychology and eudaimonistic theory (though the jargon used varies from writer to writer), primal affect becomes emotion proper and is more or less successfully yoked to sociality and agency. After all, its connections to standard accounts, particularly eudaimonistic ones, are clear: the important emotional states are not only positive, but central rather than peripheral or superficial; those states are combined with mood propensities, all of which function together as positive psychological traits with considerable strength, stability, and resilience; and a preponderance of such strong, stable, and resilient positive traits is (plausibly) causally connected to sustaining both mental and physical health. (147). It seems a natural step to go from this to giving more emphasis to the health-oriented agenda of positive psychology and connecting it explicitly to a conception of complete healththat is, an integrated conception of physiological and psychological factors, along negative and positive dimensions with respect to health, together with the environmental factors that make it possible. It is a decision made in the background, before the real theoretical work gets started. And in fact, work along these lines is going on. the objection that many types of mild-to-moderate affect are essentially trivial matters in any casethings that are of no very great consequence, overall, for how well our lives are going. Does it simply mean not being sick, or does it mean more than that? 1. Perfect virtue is found only in sages, whose existence is rare if not mythical. This includes, but is not limited to, the sort of teleological naturalism found in ancient Greek eudaimonism. Obvious objections to be met include cases in which the realization of ones potential occurs in a life full of misery (pain, frustration, or regret), or can be congruent with ignorance, lack of autonomy, or great evil. And they show that this conception of complete health is consonant with recent psychological and philosophical work on positive health and happiness. (4) Such strengths are thereby part of the subject a matter of basic justice. This conception of health, while similar to a much-criticized definition offered by the World Health Organization, is distinct from it, and avoids the usual objections to the WHO definition. Moreover, there is no particular reason, a priori, to think that positive psychology should examine normative theories of justice and ethics for anything more than leads on what topics to pursue, and how to classify its results. One is the inclusion of both its negative and positive dimensions: health is declared not to be merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It appears that this dispute is not about the importance of both of these dimensions of well-being itself. Some of it is summarized by Keyes in the article just cited. These models are considered to proceed hierarchically in the direction of greater complexity and comprehensiveness, with each model subsuming the characteristics of the lesser models. One needs traits (persistent dispositions) as opposed to mere states of being or mere behaviors. For these reasons, choices A, C, and D would all be incorrect. Emotion. Psychotherapy on the positive side of the ledger is now frequently distanced from a discussion of health and directed to life-coaching or counseling for wellness, happiness, and life satisfaction. There is no particular reason, a priori, why a classification scheme for positive psychology must be tethered to a conception of health rather than well-being generally. Feedback loops and spirals. Further, there is a large body of science that connects physical and psychological health to each other in feedback loops (downward spirals) that run through persistent traits and conditions and/or social circumstances: for example, physical ill health that leads to lowered energy; low energy that leads to lowered initiative and activity; which in turn leads to increasing difficulties with work and/or relationships with family and friends; which in turn leads to inertia, ennui, and depression; which in turn leads to unhealthy patterns of behavior; which increases physical ill health and starts the cycle again. List theories, in which well-being consists in meeting threshold levels of a disparate set of goods. All of this should be a leading concern of a eudaimonistic conception of health, and thus of basic justice. Obvious objections to be met, again, include cases in which the desires might be inauthentic, self-defeating, not fully informed, not equivalent to rational need-satisfaction, or not congruent with basic justice. One is habilitative, by giving attention to the ways in which such injuries can either be prevented or made survivablefor example, by getting agreements between belligerents not to use chemical or biological warfare; by improving the speed with which traumatic injuries are fully treated; by the use of better body armor. To dismiss happiness as a lightweight matter of little import is most likely to be working with a lightweight conception of happiness (123). It is clear that unless this cycle is broken by more than simply removing the physical ill health that starts it all, physical health will not be stable. Positive emotional states (moods and emotions, mostly) are defined by giving examples drawn from ordinary usage and from positive psychology: joyfulness, high-spiritedness, peace of mind, etc. Eight of these chapters address matters of mental health directly, and some of them do so in a way that connects to the limited, unified conception of eudaimonistic health proposed here. And they were aware of the connection between such strength and social circumstances. Rather, it is about whether the large body of literature on hedonic measures should now be revised to include both eudaimonistic and hedonic ones. With this, we are firmly back in standard territory. Moreover, there has always been a steady stream of basic science and clinical science aimed at understanding the factors involved in producing good health. Here positive psychology illustrates something problematic for present purposes, since it seems to loosen its contact with health science and practice. This has been pointed out by many writers, including Okin (1989) and Kittay (1998). The recent growth of positive psychology illustrates two things of particular interest here. This is used to develop a theoretical structure and classification scheme for work in positive psychology. There too the causal connections between ill health and good health have long been recognized, both in research and practice. The model looks at the biological factors which affect health, such as age, illness, gender etc. Flourishing individuals exhibit high levels on at least one of the two measures of hedonic well-being, and high levels on at least six of the eleven measures of positive functioning (eudaimonistic well-being). What were the goals established in Healthy People 2000? Models of Health: What does it mean to be healthy? Some of the debate in bioethics about the definition of health has been about whether there is a purely descriptive, value-free, scientific definition of health, or whether health is implicitly a normative concept connected to notions of what is good for humansand ultimately what is ethically good. The physiology underlying all areas of medicine supports the standard practice of doing much more than merely eliminating disease, deficit, disability, or distress. Recent research findings are presented, showing how these resources or deficits impact sense of coherence (SOC). It is proposed that eudaimonic well-beingif explored, understood, and implemented in a manner that holds true to the purity of the conceptoffers significant promise for shifts in health. Ancient Greek eudaimonists do not make a sharp distinction between psychological health and well-being, or between health defined negatively (as the absence of disease, deficit, or injury) and health defined positively (as the presence of stable, strong, and self-regulating traits that contribute to something more than mere survival). This chapter develops the notion of eudaimonistic healtha conception of physiological and psychological good as well as bad health. (5) And if the same thing is true about purely psychological happiness (psychic affirmation or psychic flourishing), it too will be part of the subject matter of basic justice. As a health promoter it is important that these dimensions are explored and understood. The eudaimonistic model provides an even more comprehensive conception of health than the previously presented views. (The same would be true of competing philosophical analyses of purely psychological happiness.).

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